In some applications, such as space travel and flight, it may be desirable to use high strength fabric materials for structural elements. These materials may reduce a launch or take-off weight and may reduce costs associated with take-off. Two applications where fabric structures are of particular interest are inflatable habitats and parachutes.
Having a knowledge of strain applied to a material during testing and flight is important for both inflatable structures and parachutes. Capacitive strain gauges are useful for long term use because capacitance measurements do not deviate over time, and hysteresis does not appear due to cycling load. However, typical capacitive strain gauges are designed for metal or other rigid materials and may rely on processes such as etching. Flexible materials may exhibit high rates of strain which may cause typical strain gauges to break or malfunction. Ink jet printing has been used to form strain gauges, however, ink jet printing may not enable the strain gauge to have sufficient resolution for many applications. Likewise, typical printing methods may not enable the usage of some conductive inks based on their viscosities.
An additional shortcoming of typical strain gauges is that integrated circuits incorporated in the strain gauge may be subject to failure upon being subjected to excessive strain and/or flexing. Other disadvantages may exist.